Not only does Leontes not trust Hermione and Polixenes but he also now thinks that Camillo is being dishonest and foolish,' And therein negligent; or else a fool,' Leontes says that Camillo is blinded from the real truth and cannot see what is going on. So here we can see that Leontes is being quite selfish and stupid in his ways. He looks about to lose all respect that anyone ever had in him. There is also evidence of tragedy in the conflict of opinion between Camillo and Leontes. Leontes firmly thinks that Polixenes and Hermione are having an affair, where, as Camillo are unable to believe this. ' Good my lord, be cured…dangerous.' Camillo denies that Hermione is false. Here Shakespeare has created a conflict in characters through elegant use of language, this conflict between the two ads to dramatic tension and contributes to Leontes eventual realising of his mistakes. There is further confirmation of tragic workings in the play when Leontes asks Camillo to poison Polixenes, ' To give mine enemy a lasting wink;' we can see that Leontes is now having murderous thoughts and is on the brink of madness. The fact that Leontes wants to kill his life time best friend and also get someone else to do it is very distressing One feels sorry for Camillo as he is torn between what to do:' I must be the poisoner…to a master.' Camillo is in a very difficult position, if he does not do it then Leontes will be mad at him however if he does then he faces humiliation if found out by others.
Polixenes reaction to being told by Camillo that he is supposed to be having an affair, appals him, 'O then my best…the Best! Polixenes reaction to this accusation convinces us even further that he is an innocent man and portrays Leontes as more the villain.
In Act 2 when Leontes hears of Camillo's and Polixeness escape from Sicilia, he is further convinced of Hermione's guilt, which leads to her public humiliation and imprisonment. This is ironic because in Act 1 Leontes assures Camillo that he will not hurt Hermione's reputation if Polixenes is murdered. One can see that Leontes paranoia is at an extreme level, with his tone of voice constantly changing from persuasive to angry. This is in keeping with his irrational behaviour.
Act 2 scene 1 started off in a light-hearted vein with gentle joking between Hermione and Mamilius. This provides mild comic relief to the tense and serious end of the previous scene. The arrival of Leontes with the news of the secret departure of Polixenes and Camillo creates tension and abruptly changes the tone of the scene. From this point on it is grave and serious. There is much tragedy in this part of the play in the fact that Hermione knows she is innocent and so does everybody else and Leontes is committing a grave sin against her in his ill judgement. Hermione believes that her suffering is God's will and that she must accept her plight with fortitude, thus demonstrating true grace before God, '…this action I now go on is for my better grace.' Though one feels great respect for Hermione due to her wanting to uphold her grace and honour it is very tragic that such an innocent woman is under such scrutiny.
In Act 2 scene 3 Paulina hopes that the baby's innocence will move Leontes to return to his senses and undo the entire ridiculous harm that he has cause. Tragically, however, her plan backfires. Instead of being moved, Leontes is disgusted. 'Out! A mankind witch…bawd.' This is a very dramatic effect as we can see the extent of Leontes madness and his failure to see the truth; he is even prepared to kill a baby in order to prove his point. However through Paulina, Shakespeare has created much dramatic effect and added a very heartbreaking moment to the story. As said before tragedy is most evident in Leontes, this is exemplified further by his actions in this scene. Leontes says how he will kill Antigonous if he does not follow his orders. This behaviour shows how unhinged his mind has become. He is so consumed with jealousy that he cannot sleep. This further impairs his judgement and feeds his crazy behaviour.
Up to now one feels that Leontes actions have been the most tragic part of the play, however in Act 3 scene 2 Hermione dominates proceedings. The fact that Hermione has to get up in front of commoners, in the open, in rags and stand trial for a crime that she did not commit is very sad, this is magnified in her speech, 'My third…out to murder.' Her baby has been taken away from her and her reputation damaged. Hermione says how she is not afraid to die because everything she values has been taken away from her, 'Tell me what blessings…die.' She has nothing left to live for.
Shakespeare uses the death of Mamilius as a very clever dramatic device to show the destructive power of jealousy. Mamilius illness and death are evidence of the disorder that the kingdom has been in since the onset of Leonte's jealousy.
Overall in these three acts, tragic devices have been in abundance. They have been evident in Leontes failure to recognise the truth, the fact that an innocent Queen was forced to stand trial in front of masses and the death of a guiltless boy, free from all suspicion, but yet he suffers at the hands of mistrust and jealousy.
